Page 43 - 2020 Remuda Catalog

Four

Sixes

The untamed, rugged land of Texas Ranch
became home to legendary ranchers
and cowboys as big and windy as the Established 1870
state itself. The vast horizon sprawled
across the big-country in which they established prosperous land
and cattle operations. Among them was the Four Sixes Ranch. Leg-
end has it that the history of the ranch began with a poker game
and a winning hand of four sixes. In true Texas fashion, it does
make a good story, but the real history of the Four Sixes began with
Samuel Burk Burnett, who became one of the most influential and
prosperous cattlemen in Texas.
Born in Bates County, Missouri in 1849, Samuel Burk Burnett
and his family moved from Missouri to Denton County, Texas af-
ter their home was destroyed in the Jayhawk raids of 1858. Bur-
nett’s father, Jerry, became involved in the cattle business and Burk
grew up watching and learning. At age 19, Burnett went into busi-
ness for himself with the purchase of 100 head of cattle, which were
wearing the 6666 brand. With the title to the cattle came owner-
ship of the brand.
By 1874, Burnett had survived the panic of the previous year by
holding over the winter, 1,100 steers. The next year, he sold the
cattle for a profit of $10,000 and became one of the first ranchers in
Texas to buy steers and graze them for market. Increasing his herd
yet again, he soon saw the need to have control over the lands on
which his cattle fed and began buying property.
Drought conditions in the 1880s forced Burnett and other ranch-
ers to go in search of grass for their cattle. The tribal lands of the
Kiowa and Comanche north of the Red River in Oklahoma had
not suffered the dry conditions, which devastated the range far-
ther south. So, Burnett negotiated with Comanche chief Quanah
Parker for the lease of the Indian lands. Not only was Burnett able
to acquire the use of some 300,000 acres of grassland, he gained
the friendship of the Comanche leader. The much-needed lease

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